self care

So you have an ingrown toenail?

And you don't exactly want to seek out your health care provider first.

Well there are a few tips for self-care for ingrown toenails that you can try to see if it alleviates some of the pain and redness associated with the ingrown toenail before you see your physician.

However, it is important to remember if you are a diabetic or if you have peripheral vascular disease or even if you have any other sort of nerve condition that limits the feeling in your feet, then you must not delay and you must see your health care to physician first.

If you have these health conditions you should not attempt self-care for ingrown toenails.

But if you have relatively good health and you feel up to trying to tackle some of the self-care for ingrown toenails, then let's get to it. A successful home treatment of your ingrown nail may prevent the need for surgery.

One of the first things that you can do for your ingrown toenail is to wash your foot twice a day. Pay close attention to the affected area.

Wash the area gently with soap and water and then dry thoroughly. During the remainder of the day to make sure that you keep your foot clean and dry.

Self-care for ingrown toenails that often feels the best is to soak your foot in warm water at least four times a day. There is no need to add any antibacterial agents or even any soap to the soaking water. Soak your foot for approximately 20 minutes.

When selecting your footwear for the day it is important to remember to avoid tight fitting shoes. It is also important to avoid high heel shoes or those with a narrow toe box. You might also consider wearing open toe sandals especially if you are having a lot of pain with your ingrown toenail.

One of the most important aspects of ingrown toenail self-care is to try to lift up the corner of the toenail that is digging its way into the skin.

Take a very tiny piece of cotton or gauze and roll it between your fingers to form a wick or small roll. Then place the roll between the toenail and the skin to keep it elevated and to keep it from continuing to dig into the delicate skin area.

There is just no way around it. This is incredibly painful.

But this is also the most important part of self-care for ingrown toenails. This home treatment can help you to avoid surgery. After every 20 minutes that you spend soaking your toe and after drying your feet thoroughly try to push the roll in a little farther each and every time.

Home care therapies for ingrown toenails may also include the use of pain relievers such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen.

If the pain relievers and the self-care for ingrown toenails have not helped you to see improvement after 72 hours, then it will be necessary for you to contact your health care provider to get the medical assistance that you need. You do not want to ignore an ingrown toenail as it can progress into an infection.

Self-care for ingrown toenails is easy to do and not that time-consuming.

But if you choose to ignore the ingrown toenail you are asking for further complications down the road.

Balancing Your Diet. Try to follow these tips:

Eat complex carbohydrates, such as pasta, potatoes, or legumes (beans and lentils), for energy.

Eat fish, poultry, dairy products, whole grain cereals, seeds, legumes for protein, for the baby's growth.

Don't cut out fat altogether, but don't eat too much, either.

Get vitamin C daily from raw fruit and vegetables, and the B complex from whole grains, nuts, legumes, green vegetables, dairy products, eggs, oily fish, and meat.

Eat red meat, fish, egg yolks, apricots, and cereals for iron, to maintain red blood cells.

Food Safety

Take extra care with food hygiene:

Listeria is a rare bacterium found in products made with unpasteurized milk, liver, pre cooked meals, and undercooked meat. Avoid these infection may result in miscarriage or still birth.

Salmonella is a bacterial infection found in eggs and chicken that causes fever, severe diarrhea, and abdominal pain. Cook food thoroughly to destroy it.

Toxoplasmosis is caused by a parasite in cat and dog feces, and in raw meat. It can cause birth defects. Cook meat thoroughly, wash hands after handling pets, and wear gloves when gardening.

Pregnancy is natural and women's bodies are designed to accommodate it. However, your body does have to work hard, so it's important to eat well and keep active to help it to cope.

Weight And Diet

Your body uses up a lot of energy during pregnancy, and you need to eat well to fuel your requirements and those of your growing baby. You could reasonably increase your in take of food by 200-300 calories a day and expect to put on 20-30 1b (9-15 kg) in weight, much of which is accounted for by the baby, uterus, and amniotic fluid. Pregnancy is not a time to go on a diet, but you should also forget the myth about eating for two, the rule is to eat to satisfy your hunger, and no more. Later in pregnancy, you may find you simply can't take in much food at any one time, so eat little and often. Keep healthy snacks, such as dried fruit, rice cakes, crisp breads, and hard fruits in your bag, car, or office.

Body Maintenance

The pregnancy hormones have profound effects on teeth, hair, nails, and skin, so don't be surprised by some temporary changes.

Teeth

Progester one makes the gums soft, so they may bleed more easily. Take care of your teeth and gums, and visit your dentist at the start of your pregnancy. Make sure you tell him you are pregnant, in case he wants to take x-rays, these may be dangerous to the developing embryo. If x-rays are necessary, however, special shielding is used to protect the embryo.

Hair and nails

Straight hair can become curly, and vice versa. Hair grows and falls in phases pregnancy often prolongs the growth phase, making thin hair thick and glossy, whereas thick hair may become dry and unmanageable. The down side is that you'll experience hair loss after the birth, although it'll grow back eventually. Although they grow faster, nails also become brittle. Keep them short and use creams to keep them moist.

Skin

Estrogen gives your skin the legendary bloom of pregnancy, but dry skin becomes drier and greasy skin more oily. Patches of brown pigment (chloasma) may appear on your face and neck but will eventually fade. All skins deepen in color with browning of the nipples and a line down the abdomen. Tiny dilated capillaries (spider naevi) on the face are common but disappear later. Stretch marks on the breasts, thighs, and abdomen are very common. But most marks will fade after the birth.

Whether it is charity or care for your skin, both begin at home. It's not just the common "c" in charity and care but the whole idea that somewhere charity cannot take place without care. And let's begin from self-care. If you don't know to love yourself first, how can you feel for the whole world? Here lies the whole essence.

Well in this article we are particularly interested with skin care and how to protect the skin from the unwanted acnes right at home. By now you must have the idea that how does acnes actually troubles the health of your skin. From tiny blackheads to spots and pimples and then to acne scars and patches - acnes can take such adverse shape and make your skin darker in complexion and paler in feel. This is not the end because all these will be accompanied by inflammation and itching.

What are the steps you can really follow at home to keep your skin shine with the natural radiance and stay away from the dirty acnes?

Pimples have more tendencies to gather on your face. So the first easy tip is to keep your face clean in every possible way. Use soft soap solutions and cleansers to wipe out dirt from your skin to wash your face at least twice daily. This will help you to also protect your skin from bacterial attacks and remove the unnecessary oils that allow the accumulation of dirt. Simple washing of the face with water can be done whenever you feel like doing so. This will give you an instant refreshing sense and also wipe out dirt.

Avoid the scrubbing technique once your skin is suffering from acnes. In case of normal skin scrubs can be a better way to remove dirt and oil and maintain its health but the pressure you exert on scrubbing may turn the acnes into infection. Inflammation will increase along with acute irritation.

Anti-acne ointments, lotions and specialized medicated creams containing benzoyl peroxide can be very effective. But one vital thing you need to follow while using these creams is the time when you must put them. The most suitable hour would be the bedtime because you and your skin can enjoy complete rest only then. The chances of any type of coming in contact with contaminated air and particles are very low.

Cosmetics are preferably not to be used if you are suffering from acnes and treating them with medicated lotions. Anyway the wiser thing would be to consult a skin-specialist if the condition seems to go out of control. Otherwise self-help is the best help if it works.

Self-care is an intrinsic, continuous and highly important activity performed by any professional, particularly those involved in health care. Also called the 'inner therapy', this practice aims to ensure that both mental and physical health of the professional is in good shape. So why is self-care for Counsellors important? Essentially, Counsellors have a clear responsibility: their clients. If a Counsellor is not mentally and physically healthy, his/her ability to provide support to clients is limited.

So what are the strategies for self-care in the counselling profession? There are many strategies which vary according to each person's state of mind. Irrespective of the strategy being used, a Counsellor's self-care activities are in place for a single purpose: that is, ensuring daily work stress does not result in burnout.

The Problem: Burnout

Burnout is the consequence of excessive work, stress and other related factors. Although the concept of burnout can also be applied to other contexts, for the purpose of this article we'll stick to the work environment. Many people suffer from burnout for various reasons, and usually the problem is related to several prominent areas of an individual's life: happiness, health, success, and others.

"Burnout is not simply excessive stress. Rather, it is a complex human reaction to ongoing stress, and it relates to feeling that your inner resources are inadequate for managing the tasks and situations presented to you. The signs and symptoms of burnout are similar to those of stress, but burnout includes an emotional exhaustion and an increasingly negative attitude toward your work and, perhaps, your life." (Help Guide Mental Health)*

This concept is well-known in mental health disciplines, particularly counselling. For this reason, many counselling courses include the topic in their training schedule: a measurement to ensure that each prospective professional is aware of their own limitations.

Burnout in Counsellor Training: The Principles

According to Corey, "burnout manifests itself in many ways. Those who experience this syndrome typically find they are tired, drained, and without enthusiasm. They feel unappreciated, unrecognised, and unimportant, and they go about their jobs in a mechanical and routine way." (Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy)**

Counsellor education generally introduces the concept of burnout to students, aiming to provide sound theoretical material that will help future counsellors to prevent, understand and act upon such a problem. The material commonly refers to the causes, remedies and prevention methods of burnout.

Causes

As cited previously, burnout is the result of a complex human reaction to stress. Such reaction can be so diversified among people that it would require highly advanced mathematical algorithms to actually derive all the possible cause combinations of burnout, and the influence of each of these causes. However, despite the unpredictability of individual responses to stress, there is a set of causes which are common to most people:

- Performance of repeated activities over time which seem to be insignificant; - Lack of appreciation for a certain task or overall effort at work; - Strong pressure to perform at work; - Excessive conflict in work relationships; - Lack of opportunities for expression and improvement; and - Presence of unresolved personal conflicts outside of the work environment.

Recognising such causes is the first step to understanding a series of events that may lead to burnout. The next step would involve the person's particular responses to mental stress and their capability to recognise certain physical traits that could indicate over-stressed responses from the body.

Remedies

Burnout remedies for professional counsellors will vastly diverge between individuals. Resembling the causes, remedies are effective according to individual traits, particularly when referring to the level of stress each person can deal with.

Some people prefer to deal with their stress-related problems by increasing or decreasing certain individual activities, such as increasing the amount of time exercising and/or decreasing the amount of time working in the office. Interactive individuals may prefer to work through their issues with others, such as participating in workshops, consulting with their supervisors or simply allocating time to talk to a friend or colleague. Many Counsellors would mix individual and group activities to reduce incidence of stress and attempt to eradicate burnout.

Counsellors may also diverge in their perspectives towards stress and burnout. Some people are naturally passive and tend to surrender to their own circumstances, generally putting themselves in the position of victims. This assumption leads to feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness, which increases the difficulty of dealing with stressing factors, resulting in either a delay in eliminating burnout, or increased intensity. However, there are also Counsellors who are proactive towards stress. Such people have a different perspective towards stressful events - they recognise the individual traits which are affecting them, and actively attempt to resolve them through a mix of introspection and scenario analysis. This approach - or active stance - is desired in order to improve stress management skills and avoid burnout.

In an industry where human relationships are so intrinsically related to work, it is sometimes inevitable to experience distress and burnout. On these occasions, it is important that Counsellors effectively remediate burnout in order to invoke balance in both professional and personal lives.

Prevention It is better to prevent rather than remediate - this saying illustrates the need for preventing burnout before it happens. Most people ignore the first signs of excessive stress, and by doing so, become vulnerable to further pressure from work. At some point, Counsellors may find it very difficult to attend counselling sessions, to get to work, and to perform in several other areas of life. Preventing burnout is simply a necessary task to anyone aiming for a balanced and fulfilling career (and life).

There are several burnout prevention principles which can be divided into three categories: physical, mental and strategic.

Physical

Stress is a pattern of physiological responses which are caused by specific events in people's lives. Such responses include an increase in blood pressure, heart rate, sugar levels and re-direction of blood flow to major organs. With such a complex set of events, it is reasonable to assume that maintaining good health will reduce the incidence of 'undesired' stress (distress). In fact, it is more than reasonable. Because stress causes such 'explosive' reactions in the body, a healthier body is vastly more capable of dealing with excessive amounts of stress than an unhealthy body.

How do you improve your health? Exercising will play the leading role in improving and maintaining a 'healthy status', allowing your body to be ready for the energy boost caused by stress. A balanced diet will ensure that the body has all nutrients necessary to perform daily activities, including regular stress-related responses. A balanced diet includes avoiding excessive intake of particular stress-related substances, such as caffeine and sugar.

Mental

Relaxation techniques such as imagery, meditation and breathing can at first conjure up feelings of inaction and statis. Music and introspection are also a good combination for improving the state of mind of a person. These are commonly used techniques, however any mental exercises that draw attention away from stressful events, and provide a 'relaxed' state to the individual, are useful. Such exercises will depend on the personal preferences of each Counsellor, and the resources that are available at the time.

Furthermore, the role of perception is extremely important in determining the health issues associated with the incidence of stress. Sometimes Counsellors perform a kind of mental 'self mutilation' in which they take responsibility for anything that goes wrong in a counselling session, or with a client. In this context, feelings of powerlessness and hopelessness will remain obstacles and can perpetuate to the Counsellor's personal life. In these instances, the Counsellor needs to re-assess their perception towards certain events: you may call it a self-directed cognitive behaviour therapy.

Strategic

Probably the most prominent cause of burnout in a workplace is the inability of an individual to meet certain deadlines and achieve particular goals which are simply impossible to achieve in the first place. Applying strategy as a form of burnout prevention means ensuring that goals are achievable.

This way, Counsellors will not put themselves under unnecessary pressure. Furthermore, strategic thinking also allows individuals to recognise their personal and professional limitations, and work effectively with those limitations in order to achieve a balanced (and successful) counselling career.

The First Steps: Shaping a Career

In the beginning of their counselling careers, most individuals are much more sensitive to burnout than experienced Counsellors. Why is that? Because their levels of anxiety are peaking as they are about to find out whether this profession is really for them, and if they can handle their clients and support them by effectively applying the theoretical concepts they have learned.

Dealing with the normal anxieties of the first few sessions is part of the process of inner development that the counselling profession requires from all its peers. The fact that it deals with human beings, which can be vastly unpredictable, will affect the Counsellor's confidence to some extent. The nature of a counselling session, which can have a major impact in a client's life, also evokes doubts in the Counsellor's mind. It is important for the Counsellor to simply recognise such doubts as a normal part of their own behaviour, and to understand the feelings which are associated with them. Beginning Counsellors can be so overwhelmed by their anxieties that they will fail to really 'see through' the situation. This inability to deal with a client could result in stress and possibly burnout.

Professional Insight: Strategies from Counsellors

There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of strategies that can help a Counsellor with self care. Each individual differentiates in the strategies used, and the need for them. Therefore, we've decided to get a first hand insight on burnout by asking two experienced professional Counsellors what were their opinions and strategies towards the problem.

"If there are challenges at work, talking with somebody (anybody) immediately after is called de-briefing, and may result in problematic issues not manifesting within the body and causing frustration, anger, hurt, and even illness. For difficult clients, supervision is imperative to access a mind to break the difficulties into manageable parts.

Outside of work, personally, what works for me is to have a regime of care for my body by attending a wellness centre where I involve myself in a class of Aqua Fit and Yoga every week. Massage when I can - preferably once a month or even a facial is good.

Because of Yoga, I have learned the art of switching off in a meditative mode very quickly, so the minute I walk outside of work I am in another area of life (i.e. the going home mode). I look forward to time spent with family and good friends or attending a movie and eating pop corn - to me, that is bliss. Then by the time I go back to work I feel as if I've been away for a week. This works really well for me - the art of deceit of your own mind." (Kathleen Casagrande, AIPC Education Adviser)

"To function effectively as a Counsellor we need to be in good shape personally - physically, mentally and emotionally.

Given that, just like everyone else, we will have times of difficulty in our own lives, it is particularly important for us to recognise the danger signals and take action to deal with any undue stress quickly.

Like many of my colleagues I have a number of tried and tested remedies for keeping my life in balance.

A quick fix which I can use anytime and in any stressful situation is to concentrate on my breathing rhythm and deliberately make it slower and deeper.

Listening to music is a sure-fire way for me to de-stress, as are walking on a beach, playing tennis, being out on the water or getting involved with a good book.

On the subject of reading, I work on maintaining and upgrading my skills and knowledge - having confidence in one's ability is an important element in avoiding workplace stress.

And my very favourite way to look after myself? A glass of wine on a sunny afternoon with my partner somewhere by the water." (Wendy Mead, AIPC Senior Education Adviser)

Sources

*Help Guide Mental Health (www.helguide.org/mental/burnout_signs_symptoms.htm).

** Corey G (1996) Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy (p. 44).

When experts lecture us on weight loss, it is usually all about exercise, calories and carbs. That is good information, but from one compulsive eater to another, I have provided some other tips that do not usually make the diet books. They will require some effort, but I have found them to be essential to proper self-care and weight loss.

1. Sleep: It is so easy to overeat when we are tired. We reach for food to keep us going, thinking we will have more energy the more we eat. Just the opposite happens. When we overeat we feel bad, heavy, and lethargic. And we are still tired! Work on going to bed earlier. Late night nibbling is easier when it is late and we should be in bed. Take care of yourself by retiring to bed with a book, and then turn the lights out before your tummy starts to growl. Even if it is growling, go to bed, you will not hear it when you are asleep and it feels sooo good to wake up in the morning with a clear conscience!

2. Vitamins: So many times our overeating is caused by nutritional deficiencies. We seek the vitamins and minerals our bodies crave in excess food. Unfortunately, this is a vicious cycle because usually the food we overeat is devoid of any real nutrition, so it leaves us further depleted. As a first step, begin taking a good multivitamin, preferably one made from whole food. (If you go to a health food store, they will offer whole food supplements, not just synthetic ones.) Next, strive to eat organic foods whose soil is not stripped of vital minerals like the soil of chemical-sprayed fruits and vegetables. Eating organic will make you feel better, and feel better about yourself. Because you are making an effort to be good to your body. Lastly, stick with foods that have as little processing as possible. For example, cook a free-range turkey instead of eating cold-cuts. The more whole and natural, the more nutritionally sound.

3. Bring lunch: It is easy to order take-out with your other bored co-workers, but that only makes weight loss harder. Be deliberate about taking care of yourself. Think ahead and shop for foods that you can use to make a healthy salad for yourself. Buy some colorful Tupperware for your packed lunches. Put some care into making a fruit salad for yourself with various yummy fruits. You will be amazed how good about yourself you will feel and how good for you it is to bring your own lunch to work and avoid the greasy, starchy alternatives your coworkers are devouring.

4. Do not skip meals: Skipping meals is a trap! We always end up making up for the meals we skipped and then some! Make a point to eat three meals a day, and do not nibble in between. Would you skip feeding your children? Of course not. Then why do we think it is OK to skip our own meals? If you make a point to feed yourself on a schedule of three meals a day, you will be more balanced emotionally and you will actually build self-esteem. Both these things lead to a thinner weight and a better quality of life.

5. Stay Hydrated: Yes, I know you know that 8 glasses of water a day is good for weight loss and health in general. True health experts will actually recommend that you drink more than this. The fact is that when we are dehydrated, we eat more. This is because it is easy to disguise thirst for hunger. We eat, looking to hydrate ourselves, when drinking a few glasses of water would easily quiet those hunger pangs. So next time you are SURE that you need to eat more, try a tall glass of water and wait 10 minutes. That may be all you need. Here is another tip: make it easy by bringing a bottle of water with you wherever you go.

6. BYOF: That is bring your own food! Do not put your health in other peoples hands...they do not feel the pain when your jeans do not fit! Taking care of yourself takes some planning. Is the party you will be attending only going to have greasy and starchy finger foods? (You can call ahead and ask the host what she/he will be serving--mention that you have some special dietary needs.) To be safe, bring a veggie platter with low-fat dip! That way you get what you need and you do not feel left out. Do not want to drink alcohol? Bring along a few bottles of seltzer. I do this often. It feels good to take care of myself and nobody minds. Do not leave your health to chance. Remember the adage: if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

7. Do not eat diet food: How do diet food companies keep us shelling out dough for more diet food? They put chemicals and addictive ingredients in them that make us hooked! I am talking about ingredients like MSG, and many forms of addictive sugars like corn syrup and sucrose. Even NutraSweet has been proven to be a neurostimulant linked to stimulating appetite. Also, studies have shown that when people eat a diet food they feel like they can get away with eating more and end up overeating!

8. Avoid Sugar: The average American now consumes approximately 115 lbs. of sugar per year. Sugar is extremely addictive and it offers very few health benefits. There is no such thing as having only a little (have you noticed?)! If you like things sweet, like I do, try a truly healthy substitute: Stevia. Stevia Extract comes from the Stevia Rebaudiana plant and has been used traditionally for hundreds of years. It is sugar free and calorie free, and has no bitter aftertaste. It even comes in packets, just like Equal or Splenda (both of which have unhealthy side effects.) You can get Stevia at any health food store. I buy it in liquid form with a dropper. Just a few drops in my herbal tea or yogurt and I am happy!

9. Go Raw: I could write pages on the benefits of eating raw foods (fresh green beans instead of cooked or canned; raw, uncooked almonds instead of Blue Diamond Smokehouse Almonds). Besides the obvious nutritional benefits, another good reason to go is that your body has to work harder to process raw foods, thus burning more calories. In addition, raw foods have far more nutrients than cooked foods. Raw foods often take longer to eat so your body has time to feel sated: try a spinach salad instead of creamed spinach with your meal.

10. Do not go too long without eating: This is self-care 101! You listen to your children when they are hungry, why not yourself? The fact is, when you wait too long to eat your next meal, you are causing your adrenal glands to panic, believing your body is in starvation mode. Then when you do eat, they do not get the message when you have had enough. They are still attempting to save your life by causing you to believe you need to eat more. Take care of yourself! The biggest irony ever is that compulsive eaters do not know how to feed themselves

We hold babies when they cry. We cup the backs of their heads and gently lay them on our shoulders. It isn’t something we’re taught; we just do it. To offer comfort and affection and show love by enveloping in touch—it is so simple within a typically complex human spirit, its history ancient; we were hugging one another long before we could make fire. And no doubt it may even help keep us civilized.

We give hugs, and we receive hugs. It feels good during, and it feels better after, and likely we’ve never pondered why. We may not think of human touch being vital to our health and survival. But it is, and study after study has proven it. When our embraces are brief but sincere; when we out and out give big ole hugs; when we comfort with simple touch—these are times when small miracles of healing have taken place right under our, well, shoulders.

The need for this type of touch—hugging, caressing, etc.—is no different with those who are HIV positive or those diagnosed with AIDS—gay, straight, race, religion—none of this is important. But all such persons share one thing: Small miracles.

Any one of us may have a friend, gay or not, who is positive for HIV. Their viral load is undetectable, their immune system is in check, and overall, their health is excellent. The closest of friends and their families are their best support systems. They’ve educated themselves how HIV and AIDS can and cannot be contracted, so they still know it’s safe to give their friend or relative big ole hugs like there’s no tomorrow. And it is this type of support and plain old hugging that helps keep alive HIV positive people and people with AIDS.

But some friends and relatives aren’t so receptive when they find out one of their own is HIV positive or has developed AIDS. Even when it comes to showing affection to the healthiest of HIV positive people, they withdraw into the tense body language of Don’t Touch Me. I have no doubt this can and has happened to someone with AIDS, or if he or she has disclosed his or her positive HIV status. The less enlightened person may recoil in fear only once, which is bad enough, but if the scenario is repeated often enough, any HIV positive person or person with AIDS gets to deal with fresh wounds of rejection all over again.

What’s worse, they begin to believe they are unworthy of even the sincerest of hugs.

Do any of you identify with this? No matter who you are or where your path has led you, now’s the time to listen up: Hope never fails to spring up in the least likely of places.

Non-judgmental care; unconditional focus on soothing the muscle and skin; hands trained to dismantle negative body energy. Not only is this possible for those with HIV or AIDS, it’s mandatory.

I’m speaking about massage therapy, but I’d like to pin it down specifically to gay massage therapists with privately owned businesses who’ve created their own genre.

These masseurs have “come into their own”, so to speak. Their business venture is rather more a higher calling borne from their desire to meet the needs of gay (and HIV positive) clientele, and they are exceeding the expectations of those who walk through their doors.

The benefits of massage therapy for HIV positive people, as well as those with AIDS, are probably still being counted. Massage has become a popular part of a holistic regimen where simply taking meds can cover only part of overall HIV self-care. Medications help keep the virus in check, true, but the side effects can leave the body feeling ravaged, exhausted, and like hell in general.



But even deeper is the onset of unpredictable depression not necessarily brought about through medication side effects. The virus lurking within can cause just as many problems emotionally and psychologically—not just physically. Remember: Don’t Touch Me is conjured from a damaged belief system.

But with massage therapy, you rekindle an inner intimacy you may have thought would never burn again. With eyes closed and under a therapist’s kneading and prodding hands, vulnerability unfolds. Your soul blooms, and once again you are part of the human race where you believe you deserve to be touched in a safe and caring way.

Web sites abound concerning the physical and emotional benefits of massage therapy. Just use your favorite search engine. However, gay men with HIV or AIDS may have a difficult time tracking down a massage therapist skilled enough and caring enough to provide a positive massage experience. Tapping directly into web sites such as FindAMasseur.com is a great place to start.

Allow yourself an hour and a half of bonding and trust in the hands of a massage therapist. Allow that tired old Don’t Touch Me idea to drop dead in its tracks. It bears repeating that such therapy truly can and will help contribute to the process of healing the inner self more quickly in caring hands. Human touch can become that component of care, which has probably been on hiatus for way too long. And for that, a gay massage therapist, complete with a privately owned safe place, is only an email away.

It is a common fact that people or women in particular are always looking for the miracle cure against anti aging. It's no wonder that cosmetic companies are spending vast sums of money no only researching, but releasing large amounts of heavily priced so called miracle cures to the ever so eager public hell bent on looking young for as long as possible.

Anti aging skin care products can be traced as far back as Cleopatra and many other very famous women through out the ages. The sad fact is, that all of us will grow old and that goes for our skin as well of course. As of today, nothing on the market, despite wild and wonderful claims, can make us look young forever. However there is one product that stands out from the crowd and usually does not require you to spend your entire week's wage to purchase.

Discover sunscreen

Sunscreen is so common nowadays that most people would not even consider it as an integral part of an anti aging skin care regime. Ask any dermatologist and they will tell you that sun block is not only important but is in fact one of the best ways to maintain the skin looking young, beautiful and glowing.

The sun is our skin's biggest enemy and prolonged exposure to sunlight mainly in the middle of the day can not only dry the skin but can also cause permanent damage to it. Using sunscreen can, not only protect our defenseless skin against damaging sun rays but it will also ensure that the skin does not dry up.

Staying out of the sun during the day and only doing things at night could be an option but not really a practical one. Being humans, we do need some exposure to sun light to get our daily dose of vitamin D. Further more, completely staying out of the sun can result in some diseases or conditions that can be quite dangerous.

How sunscreen works

As an anti aging skin care product, sunscreen works by shielding our skin from damaging rays but lets in only the good benefits that we receive from direct exposure to the sun. The hours between 10.00 am to 3.00 pm are usually most dangerous to our skin. This is the time that the sun is most likely to be at its peak.

One of the main reasons hat people do not use sunscreen is that some of them are quite greasy and sting the eyes. With so many on the market today, you will easily find one that will solve both these problems with the added bonus of offering you complete protection against the sun's damaging rays. As a wonderful anti aging skin care product, the main ingredients present in sunscreen can also be found in skin care items such as powders, whitening creams and many others.

It needs to be said however that using sunscreen as an anti aging skin care product if you are a heavy smoker or if you consume large amounts of alcohol regularly, will have not effect at all. To combat the effect these highly dangerous substances have on your skin, you will need to find some other drastic solution to your problem first before considering anti aging skin care.

Given below are some tips to help you fight with depression and stress:

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Dust all the flat surfaces in your living room. This should take only five minutes, but it makes a perceptible difference.
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Take a bath or a shower, then put moisturizer on every square inch of your skin. Put on a bathrobe and relax for fifteen minutes.
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Read one full chapter of that book you've been trying to get to.
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Sweep the garage. Don't worry about the other stuff in there; just sweep out all the dirt you can get to.
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Remember that call you've been meaning to make to work out that problem with that company? Make the call.
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Groom the dog. Just do it.
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You know that thing you've been meaning to tell that person but keep forgetting or putting off? Tell him.
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Set aside fifteen minutes just fifteen minutes to start, experience, and finish your own personal time. Go to a quiet room after instructing others you are not to be disturbed, set a timer, and do something all on your own that you really want to do, and do it for fifteen minutes solid. Read, listen to music, sew, whittle, whistle, whatever. Don't gyp yourself. Do the whole fifteen minutes, start to finish. Voila. You're ready to continue with your day. Was that so hard? I bet you feel better already.

Commit To Yourself

It's all well and good to manage your depression for the sake of the others in your life, but you have to commit to yourself, too. Self-esteem, at its very basic level, is about recognizing that you are worth self care. And, of course, that means you'll be better able to care for others. As the Buddha once said, "Be a light unto yourself." Seek self knowledge, treat yourself well, care for yourself, and you'll learn to love, appreciate, and esteem yourself. Then, when stress happens, which it will, you'll understand that the depression that happens outside of you doesn't change who you are, what you are worth, how precious and individual and worthy of self love you are. No one understands you like you do, and, if you don't try to understand yourself, you can't expect others to. So, make it a point to understand, study, nurture, and honor yourself. The rest including all those things that cause the depression in your life will fall right into place.